Written Answers Friday 20 November 2009

Scottish Executive

Air Services

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it is making in identifying options regarding an air route development fund.

Stewart Stevenson: The European Commission has stated its intention to review its 2005 guidelines on start-up aid to examine their effectiveness and suitability. We will meanwhile continue to pursue our strategy to maintain and improve Scotland’s international air connectivity, as set out in my answer to question S3W-23391 on 14 May 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Air Services

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that increasing passenger numbers at Glasgow Prestwick Airport can contribute to the regeneration of the Ayrshire economy.

Stewart Stevenson: Airports can contribute to economic growth at the local, regional or national level.

Bees

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers the Scottish black bee a native or non-native species and what evidence it has to support this.

Richard Lochhead: There is no definitive answer. Honeybee colonies were probably exploited by human beings as they moved north at the end of the last ice age. It is likely that humans probably provided hives to feral bees from which they could take honey. Under some circumstances the bees would have established self-sustaining populations.

  Over the last 100 years bees have been imported from other parts of Europe and have cross-bred with Scottish honeybees. The number of self-sustaining feral colonies is considered to be low and the extent to which they are representative of the Scottish black bee from antiquity is not known with certainty.

Civil Service Relocation

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made since May 2007 of the relocation of civil service jobs.

John Swinney: The Scottish Government’s relocation policy was launched on 28 January 2008, in conjunction with the report on the review of asset management. The relocation policy can be accessed at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/govt-locations/location-policy/asset-management .

  Following this report, any decisions on the location of public sector bodies must give maximum value for the taxpayer whilst ensuring operational effectiveness. Our policy on managing public sector property is rooted in the best use of existing assets, and while relocation of existing bodies is an option, it will only happen after a rigorous and transparent process that shows there are efficiencies for the whole of Scotland.

Justice

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many direct measures were issued for (a) assault and (b) assault to injury in September 2009, broken down by sheriff court.

Frank Mulholland: The following table shows the number of charges of (a) assault and (b) assault to injury, where the initial decision taken by the procurator fiscal was to deal with the offending behaviour by means of a direct measure.

  The 221 charges relate to a total of 201 persons issued with an offer of a direct measure, out of a total of 3,763 persons offered a direct measure during the same period.

  The figures include only those direct measures that were affected by the provisions in the Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007.

  Charges: Assault and Assault to Injury

  

 Office
 Direct Measure Issued
 Charges Reported


 Assault
 Assault to Injury
 Assault
 Assault to Injury


 Aberdeen
 14
 5
 147
 72


 Airdrie
 15
 1
 121
 19


 Alloa
 3
 0
 30
 14


 Arbroath
 3
 4
 30
 14


 Ayr
 0
 0
 41
 39


 Banff
 0
 0
 7
 7


 Campbeltown
 2
 0
 18
 1


 Cupar
 0
 1
 15
 9


 Dingwall
 0
 0
 37
 3


 Dornoch
 0
 0
 1
 0


 Dumbarton
 3
 0
 51
 32


 Dumfries
 2
 3
 19
 31


 Dundee
 10
 1
 75
 42


 Dunfermline
 2
 7
 68
 33


 Dunoon
 2
 0
 6
 0


 Duns
 1
 0
 2
 8


 Edinburgh
 6
 8
 181
 193


 Elgin
 1
 2
 24
 21


 Falkirk
 19
 2
 82
 16


 Forfar
 1
 0
 10
 1


 Fort William
 0
 0
 10
 1


 Glasgow
 18
 1
 506
 104


 Greenock
 0
 0
 19
 16


 Haddington
 0
 0
 13
 26


 Hamilton
 14
 0
 160
 33


 Inverness
 13
 0
 85
 10


 Jedburgh
 0
 0
 12
 20


 Kilmarnock
 4
 1
 89
 59


 Kirkcaldy
 3
 7
 88
 34


 Kirkcudbright
 0
 0
 7
 0


 Kirkwall
 1
 0
 9
 0


 Lanark
 1
 0
 25
 5


 Lerwick
 0
 0
 8
 0


 Livingston
 10
 1
 45
 41


 Lochmaddy
 0
 0
 4
 0


 Oban
 2
 0
 11
 2


 Paisley
 5
 1
 81
 45


 Peebles
 0
 0
 4
 6


 Perth
 1
 0
 63
 15


 Peterhead
 0
 0
 34
 15


 Rothesay
 3
 0
 4
 2


 Selkirk
 1
 0
 9
 6


 Stirling
 3
 0
 40
 17


 Stonehaven
 2
 1
 9
 2


 Stornoway
 0
 0
 8
 0


 Stranraer
 1
 0
 5
 19


 Tain
 4
 0
 25
 0


 Wick
 4
 1
 10
 4


 Grand Total
 174
 47
 2,348
 1,037



  Notes:

  1. The information in this table has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s case management database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a procurator fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency, the database will record details only of the amended charge.

  2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

  3. Procurator fiscal jurisdictions match sheriff court jurisdictions.

Justice

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many direct measures were issued for (a) assault and (b) assault to injury in October 2009, broken down by sheriff court.

Frank Mulholland: The following table shows the number of charges of (a) assault and (b) assault to injury, where the initial decision taken by the procurator fiscal was to deal with the offending behaviour by means of a direct measure.

  The 300 charges relate to a total of 262 persons issued with an offer of a direct measure, out of a total of 3,835 persons offered a direct measure during the same period.

  The figures include only those direct measures that were affected by the provisions in the Criminal Proceedings etc (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007.

  Charges: Assault and Assault to Injury

  

 Office
 Direct Measure Issued
 Charges Reported


 Assault
 Assault to Injury
 Assault
 Assault to Injury


 Aberdeen
 27
 0
 155
 47


 Airdrie
 7
 1
 128
 17


 Alloa
 0
 0
 23
 14


 Arbroath
 4
 1
 26
 9


 Ayr
 1
 0
 73
 61


 Banff
 0
 0
 3
 6


 Campbeltown
 5
 0
 15
 1


 Cupar
 1
 0
 12
 8


 Dingwall
 2
 0
 17
 0


 Dornoch
 1
 0
 2
 0


 Dumbarton
 5
 0
 66
 33


 Dumfries
 0
 2
 30
 31


 Dundee
 10
 3
 99
 28


 Dunfermline
 11
 3
 63
 27


 Dunoon
 0
 0
 4
 1


 Duns
 0
 0
 4
 7


 Edinburgh
 14
 7
 207
 124


 Elgin
 1
 0
 27
 17


 Falkirk
 18
 0
 77
 16


 Forfar
 2
 0
 15
 1


 Fort William
 4
 0
 6
 1


 Glasgow
 59
 8
 569
 127


 Greenock
 0
 2
 13
 12


 Haddington
 0
 0
 21
 19


 Hamilton
 12
 1
 168
 15


 Inverness
 8
 0
 88
 1


 Jedburgh
 2
 0
 9
 18


 Kilmarnock
 2
 0
 104
 44


 Kirkcaldy
 24
 5
 88
 48


 Kirkcudbright
 1
 0
 1
 3


 Kirkwall
 1
 0
 6
 0


 Lanark
 0
 0
 23
 7


 Lerwick
 0
 0
 14
 0


 Livingston
 5
 4
 56
 40


 Lochmaddy
 1
 0
 3
 0


 Oban
 5
 0
 16
 3


 Paisley
 6
 0
 86
 24


 Peebles
 0
 0
 0
 4


 Perth
 2
 1
 66
 16


 Peterhead
 1
 0
 30
 9


 Rothesay
 2
 1
 4
 2


 Selkirk
 0
 0
 9
 4


 Stirling
 3
 0
 34
 10


 Stonehaven
 2
 0
 12
 2


 Stornoway
 8
 0
 9
 0


 Stranraer
 0
 0
 7
 19


 Tain
 3
 0
 27
 0


 Wick
 1
 0
 9
 8


 Grand Total
 261
 39
 2,524
 884



  Notes:

  1. The information in this table has been extracted from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service’s case management database. The database is a live, operational database used to manage the processing of reports submitted to procurators fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies. If a procurator fiscal amends a charge submitted by a reporting agency, the database will record details only of the amended charge.

  2. The database is charge-based. The figures quoted therefore relate to the number of charges rather than the number of individuals charged or the number of incidents that gave rise to such charges.

  3. Procurator fiscal jurisdictions match sheriff court jurisdictions.

Public Sector Staff

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it plans to advertise the post of chair of Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd.

Stewart Stevenson: The post of chair of Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL) was advertised from 9 October 2009 in the Scottish press, on our website and on HIAL’s website. The closing date for applications was 6 November 2009.

Public Transport

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Bus Route Development Grant is still available to fund improvements to commercial bus services.

Stewart Stevenson: The Bus Route Development Grant (BRDG) is still available to fund improvements to commercial bus services but is now a matter for local government. Under the concordat between the Scottish Government and COSLA, responsibility and funding for BRDG were transferred to local authorities. The Scottish Government has provided best practice guidance in administering BRDG projects to local authorities.

Public Transport

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made a formal announcement on the future of the Bus Route Development Grant.

Stewart Stevenson: The concordat between the Scottish Government and COSLA, published on 14 November 2007, shows at Annex B that Bus Route Development Grant is one of the funding streams to be incorporated into the local government finance settlement from 2008-09 onwards. A copy of the concordat has been placed in the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (Bib. number 44077).

Rail Services

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Transport Scotland with regard to providing additional rail services between Glasgow and Edinburgh via Carstairs.

Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland is part of the Scottish Government and meetings with ministers and other Scottish Government officials occur regularly in the normal course of business.

Rail Services

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with First ScotRail with regard to providing additional rail services between Glasgow and Edinburgh via Carstairs.

Stewart Stevenson: Transport Scotland, as part of the Scottish Government, meets regularly with Network Rail and First ScotRail in the normal course of business to discuss a range of matters, including development of rail services.

  Transport Scotland is working closely with Network Rail and First Scotrail to deliver the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvements Programme. First Scotrail meets regularly with Transport Scotland officials to discuss a range of programme-related issues, including the introduction of additional rail services between Glasgow and Edinburgh via Carstairs.